Practice makes better

Oh the Hotel Cafe how I love thee.

Good times were had last Saturday. I wore a new shirt. Many friends were in attendance. Here is the setlist:

how many times
beyond means
what if I
two times two
darken your sun
only a rehearsal
long distance
little city driver
princess of darkness
all I one spin*

*this was the, let's say "suspenseful", mash-up we performed of my two songs "All I Want" and "One Spin". Disclaimer: no musicians were irrevocably damaged in the performing of this piece of music.

Yesterday I sat in with Jessie Baylin for the first time in a good, long minute. I played keys on two of our co-writes, "Higher Altitudes" and "Not a Day More" as well as "Rocky Raccoon". Thank you, Beatles, for reminding me that great songs sometimes only have four chords. Jessie was at her melodious best, and her band was subtle and rocked hard at the appropriate moments.

Last night I got out the tripod and butchered my way through a videotaping of an electric piano version of "Only a Rehearsal". I woke up this morning and ironed out the messy parts, reaffirming my belief that practice makes better, if not actually perfect.

Today I look to the future. I wrote a setlist for the show at Zoey's next Saturday. I'm looking at 16 songs next Saturday instead of the usual ten I play at the Hotel.

Once this here web-log is ready to roll I'm going to do my best "leave Britney alone" and record another song or two to put up on youtube and my myspace profile.

Parting gifts: if you're looking for a quick read, don't go with "Grapes of Wrath". I'm enjoying it, but it's gently torturous getting to the end of those 450 pages. It feels like edu-tainment, with a little more "edu" then I bargained for.